Pursglove 1

Morgan Pursglove

Mrs. McKay

AP ELA

February 23, 2022

Becoming Anything and Anyone

In the movie Ready Player One, director Steven Spielberg, the “...most commercially

successful director,” brings to life a world where everyone spends their days in an A.I. creation

called the OASIS. In doing so, he calls to attention several issues in our society that may not

seem quite as drastically severe as they were in the film, but that are still noticeable and present.

Through the utilization of various rhetorical devices such as vibrant colors and an exaggeration

of character features, Spielberg is able to explore the idea of identity in this fictional society,

while maintaining a connection to the cultures in our world today.

Near the beginning of this movie, the culture in the year 2045 is shown through the

actions of the characters, particularly the protagonist, Wade Watts. As soon as the movie begins,

we see Wade heading down his complex with a backpack slung over his shoulder. Because of

this, the viewer would naturally assume he was on his way to school. However, this expectation

is quickly proven incorrect when, rather than making his way to a school building, he crawls into

an abandoned, empty van. Here, he removes what looks like a VR headset, and the audience is

transported along with him to this virtual world, the OASIS. Here, it is explained that everyone

can be anyone. It doesn’t matter who you are, what you look like, where you’re from; everyone

is allowed and accepted. By depicting this fictional world created by Halliday, the inventor of the

game, Spielberg is able to subtly point out one major flaw in this society. By creating this

fictional world where everyone is accepted for who or what they are, Halliday has created a safe
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haven from the real world. Near the end of the movie, Halliday and Wade are talking and

Halliday explains to Wade why he created the OASIS. He says, “I created the OASIS because I

never felt at home in the real world. I just didn’t know how to connect with the people there,”

(Halliday). In doing so, it is shown that their society is just as flawed as ours currently, if not

more, and not everyone is accepted. People change themselves almost to an excessive amount so

they can be anonymous and remain in this so-called “perfect” world. They don’t feel like they

will belong if they are anything less than perfect, and even if they are perfect, people are still left

out.

Spielberg is especially able to highlight this difference between the OASIS and

Columbus, Ohio through the colors that are used. In Ohio, everything was a shade of brown,

grey, or navy; everything was dull and had no life. As soon as the headset is put over Wade’s

eyes, we are transported to this world where color is practically bursting out of everything, with

colors so vivid and unique they’re essentially unrecognizable. By creating such a stark

difference, Spielberg accentuates the discrepancy between Earth and the OASIS. Along with

highlighting the contrast between these worlds, Spielberg also makes the OASIS seem like a

more desirable place to be. Here, you can be anything you want. Have anything you want, and do

anything you want. The scenery is better, the rules are nonexistent, the worlds are endless, and

there are no consequences to essentially living here. If the colors had remained the same in both

worlds, the disparity wouldn’t have been as obvious, and if the color schemes had been reversed

for each world, then Ohio almost would have seemed like the more desirable place to be. By

using the bright, rich colors in the OASIS, Spielberg created a world that seemed more inviting

and hopeful.
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Another rhetorical device Spielberg used in the movie to highlight similarities between

the characters real selves and their avatars was an exaggeration of their features. When the

characters were in the OASIS, their appearances changed so immensely, they were

unidentifiable. As previously stated, they could be anything or anyone. This included changing

race, gender, or even species. Even so, with all of the main characters, they still bore a

resemblance to their personas. With the character of Samantha Cook, one of the most noticeable

things about her was the birthmark on her face. In the OASIS, this feature is much less

prominent in her character Artemis, but it is still a present trait, along with her red hair. While

this isn’t exactly present in our society today, there are several things that still remain similar to

it. People spend outrageous amounts of money to create an almost fictional version of

themselves. They try to rid themselves of every flaw, in turn creating something similar to the

characters in the OASIS. In the OASIS, everyone can choose exactly how they want to be

perceived. While this isn’t as simple in the real world, it is still present and creates unrealistic

expectations. By using these exaggerated features, Speilberg once again is able to portray the

OASIS as this perfect, carefree world where everyone is flawless. This ends up displaying

another flaw in this future society. People still struggle with the idea of perfection, and with the

idea of having a flawless image. This is an issue that can very clearly be seen in our world today,

and while it may not be as obvious in 2045, it is still present, and people are escaping to these

worlds so they can be as perfect as possible.

By using rhetorical devices such as vibrant colors and an exaggeration of perfection,

along with several others, Spielberg is able to explore the issue of identities in this future world,

pointing out the many flaws, all the while highlighting some of the redeeming qualities. If these

devices hadn’t been used, the character’s identities wouldn’t have been as developed and
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wouldn’t have made as much sense in this story line. By using these devices, it not only leaves

the audience with a feeling of satisfaction to realize that we are not the only ones with flaws, but

it also leaves us thinking. Thinking about what we individually can do to improve, but not rid

ourselves of these flaws. Thinking about what we as a society can do to crush these unrealistic

standards and expectations we hold ourselves to, while creating a better, healthier world for

future generations.
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Works Cited

"Steven Spielberg." Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Spielberg. Accessed

24 Feb. 2022.

Spielberg, Steven, director. Ready Player One. performances by Tye Sheridan and Olivia Cooke

Warner Bros, 2018.

Cline, Ernest. "Ready Player One Identity." Schmoop, www.shmoop.com/study-guides/

literature/ready-player-one/themes/identity.